Apple iPhone 8 vs. Samsung Galaxy S8 – 5 Ways Apple can beat Samsung

There’s no doubt that Samsung Galaxy S8 is currently the best smartphone in the market, however, it’s worth noting that the year is not yet over, at least until we see a new phone from Apple, presumably the iPhone 8.

Of course, it won’t be an easy task for Apple, but there are some iPhone 8 rumors that sound encouraging with respect to Apple’s pursuit of the number one spot in the smartphone industry. The Galaxy S8 has already gotten that unique status, featuring almost no bezels and a beautiful curved AMOLED screen as well as the most powerful hardware specs so far – Apple will have to sweat for its money this time around. If anything, the Galaxy S8 makes the current iPhone 7 look like a big joke (no pun intended).

On the brighter side, Samsung always gives Apple something to look at before it can release its flagships and this time, there are a number of things that the iPhone 8 must come with in order to beat – or match – the Galaxy S8. Let’s take a look at them.

Top-notch camera

Industry experts DxOMark say that the Galaxy S7 Edge has a better camera than the iPhone 7 or even the dual-lens iPhone 7 Plus. Since the Galaxy S8 has an upgraded camera over the S7 series, it will be even tougher for the iPhone 8 to survive this battle. However, Apple has everything it takes to come up with an even better camera, especially now that it has turned to the dual-lens setup ahead of Samsung.

Samsung has a 12MP DualPixel camera on the back with an f/1.7 aperture, OIS, PDAF and 4K video recording while the front has an 8MP shooter with the same aperture. Apple needs to better these specs and introduce enhanced software optimizations, probably similar to what Google did with the Pixel phones.

Augmented Reality

According to Tim Cook, AR (augmented reality) has a better future than VR (virtual reality). Perhaps this has been the major reason why Apple hasn’t ventured into the VR business. However, there’s word that Cupertino is working on debuting the iPhone 8 with support for AR, which could make the phone one of the few models that support this technology.

One problem with VR is that it requires an accessory in order enjoy it, but with AR, you only need your phone and that’s it. We’ve seen it happen with Pokemon Go, a game that took the world by storm in its initial days of launch and if Apple makes it happen, the iPhone 8 will for sure be a unique device in the market.

Mind the location of the fingerprint scanner

We have phones that have a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, but looking at where Samsung placed this feature on the Galaxy S8, it gives Apple room to take advantage of the failure. Users of the smaller Galaxy S8 might not feel it, but reaching the fingerprint scanner on the S8+ when using on hand, especially for people with small hands, is just impossible.

If Apple is to beat Samsung, placement of the fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 8 will be a key design aspect. There’s talk of it moving to the back while others are adamant that it will live under the display. Whatever the case, Apple shouldn’t repeat the same mistake that Samsung made.

Wireless charging

Ever since the Galaxy S6, all Sammy flagships have been shipping with support for wireless charging. This was back in 2015 and more than two years later, wireless charging is still a dream yet to come true for iPhone fans. But things could change with the launch of the iPhone 8.

If Apple is to beat Samsung, it’ll have to better what Samsung is already offering, probably something a lot better than the current charging pad used by the Galaxy S8. The company is also said to be working on long-range wireless charging where your iPhone 8 will immediately start charging whenever it’s in a given range from the charger, even when in your pocket. To use wireless charging on an S8, you must place the phone on charging pad, which then connects wirelessly to the charger.

Bigger battery

With the iPhone 7 Plus, Apple did a good job stepping up the battery capacity to 2900mAh, however, this is still not enough, especially looking at how resource intensive apps have become. Samsung has failed on the battery capacity aspect, shipping the S8 with a 3000mAh battery and the S8+ with a 3500mAh unit. In order to beat the S8, the iPhone 8 should do a lot better and ship with a battery that can take you through a full day without worries. With 12+ hours of full usage, the iPhone 8 will be hard to beat.